traditional adhesive for fly-rod ferrules?

Short form: what is the traditional adhesive used to attach ferrules
to bamboo fly rods, say 40-50 years ago?

Long form: I've got a bamboo fly rod, which originally belonged to my
grandfather. Grampa had a tendency to want to think of himself as a
sportsman, though he actually did very little in the field -- I'm
fairly confident this rod has never been used (I'm a spin-fisherman,
and besides, by the time I got it, it had already been sitting around
without use for long enough I'd be afraid to have a trout on it). It
is, at a guess, 50 years old.

I took it out the other day to show it to my daughter (she fell in
with a bad crowd in Taos and took up fly-fishing), and when I broke it
down again, one of the ferrules came detached from the rod. I'd like
to reattach it, and since its value is entirely sentimental I'd like
to do it with the "right" adhesive, not the best one for the job (else
it would have been epoxied by now!).

Thanks,

On Sun, 12 Aug 2007 17:31:17 -0600, Joe Pfeiffer wrote:

Short form: what is the traditional adhesive used to attach ferrules
to bamboo fly rods, say 40-50 years ago?

Long form: I've got a bamboo fly rod, which originally belonged to my
grandfather. Grampa had a tendency to want to think of himself as a
sportsman, though he actually did very little in the field -- I'm
fairly confident this rod has never been used (I'm a spin-fisherman,
and besides, by the time I got it, it had already been sitting around
without use for long enough I'd be afraid to have a trout on it). It
is, at a guess, 50 years old.

I took it out the other day to show it to my daughter (she fell in
with a bad crowd in Taos and took up fly-fishing), and when I broke it
down again, one of the ferrules came detached from the rod. I'd like
to reattach it, and since its value is entirely sentimental I'd like
to do it with the "right" adhesive, not the best one for the job (else
it would have been epoxied by now!).

Thanks,

Traditionally, it's called "ferrule cement". It comes in a stick, you heat it
up until its nice and gooey, smear a healthy amount on the rod then seat the
ferrule (or tiptop) and wipe away the squeezings before it cools down.

That it can be released via heat (using a small alcohol lamp) can be handy, if
you have to extract a broken piece of rod from within the ferrule/tiptop...

/daytripper

daytripper writes:

Traditionally, it's called "ferrule cement". It comes in a stick, you heat it
up until its nice and gooey, smear a healthy amount on the rod then seat the
ferrule (or tiptop) and wipe away the squeezings before it cools down.

That it can be released via heat (using a small alcohol lamp) can be handy, if
you have to extract a broken piece of rod from within the ferrule/tiptop...

Sounds like exactly what I want -- thanks.

daytripper voiced his/her/it's humble opinion in rec.outdoors.fishing on
Sun 12 Aug 2007 05:14:45p:

On Sun, 12 Aug 2007 17:31:17 -0600, Joe Pfeiffer
wrote:

Short form: what is the traditional adhesive used to attach ferrules
to bamboo fly rods, say 40-50 years ago?



snip

Traditionally, it's called "ferrule cement". It comes in a stick, you
heat it up until its nice and gooey, smear a healthy amount on the rod
then seat the ferrule (or tiptop) and wipe away the squeezings before
it cools down.

That it can be released via heat (using a small alcohol lamp) can be
handy, if you have to extract a broken piece of rod from within the
ferrule/tiptop...

/daytripper


I believe that's called a glue stick and wasn't even a gleam in its
inventors eye 50 years ago.

The glues of that era were animal based such as gelatin. Yes, good old
JELLO. The product of horses hooves and other parts. The old glue
factory as it were.

If the ferrule is loose in the hole use a bit of linen thread (nylon fly-
tying thread would work too but wouldn't be keeping with the spirit of
the repair) and wrap a spiral of thread around the male end. Make sure
that it fits in snuggly. Get a pack of pure gelatin and make a paste
with some water. You don't need the whole pack, just enough to make some
paste. Not runny and not too thick. Coat the ferrule, not too thick,
maybe a dab in the hole and PUSH the ferrule into place, DON'T TWIST!
Allow to set up for at least a day. Longer if the rod is wet or the
humidty is high.

I might be full of fertilizer, but I don't think so.

Tight lines.


Later......

LabRat...... |:^{)

LabRat writes:
daytripper voiced his/her/it's humble opinion in rec.outdoors.fishing on
Sun 12 Aug 2007 05:14:45p:

On Sun, 12 Aug 2007 17:31:17 -0600, Joe Pfeiffer
wrote:

Short form: what is the traditional adhesive used to attach ferrules
to bamboo fly rods, say 40-50 years ago?

The glues of that era were animal based such as gelatin. Yes, good old
JELLO. The product of horses hooves and other parts. The old glue
factory as it were.

If the ferrule is loose in the hole use a bit of linen thread (nylon fly-
tying thread would work too but wouldn't be keeping with the spirit of
the repair) and wrap a spiral of thread around the male end. Make sure
that it fits in snuggly. Get a pack of pure gelatin and make a paste
with some water. You don't need the whole pack, just enough to make some
paste. Not runny and not too thick. Coat the ferrule, not too thick,
maybe a dab in the hole and PUSH the ferrule into place, DON'T TWIST!
Allow to set up for at least a day. Longer if the rod is wet or the
humidty is high.

I might be full of fertilizer, but I don't think so.

Many thanks! I guess it's surprising that rods were held together
with a water-soluble adhesive...

Joe Pfeiffer wrote:
LabRat writes:

daytripper voiced his/her/it's humble opinion in rec.outdoors.fishing on
Sun 12 Aug 2007 05:14:45p:


On Sun, 12 Aug 2007 17:31:17 -0600, Joe Pfeiffer
wrote:


Short form: what is the traditional adhesive used to attach ferrules
to bamboo fly rods, say 40-50 years ago?

The glues of that era were animal based such as gelatin. Yes, good old
JELLO. The product of horses hooves and other parts. The old glue
factory as it were.

If the ferrule is loose in the hole use a bit of linen thread (nylon fly-
tying thread would work too but wouldn't be keeping with the spirit of
the repair) and wrap a spiral of thread around the male end. Make sure
that it fits in snuggly. Get a pack of pure gelatin and make a paste
with some water. You don't need the whole pack, just enough to make some
paste. Not runny and not too thick. Coat the ferrule, not too thick,
maybe a dab in the hole and PUSH the ferrule into place, DON'T TWIST!
Allow to set up for at least a day. Longer if the rod is wet or the
humidty is high.

I might be full of fertilizer, but I don't think so.


Many thanks! I guess it's surprising that rods were held together
with a water-soluble adhesive...

Sorry, was like a glue stick. Stick shellac melts and sticks ferrules
on. See an old book on rod building at the library.

--
Del Cecchi
"This post is my own and doesn’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions,
strategies or opinions.”